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Egluntyne

Kefir

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It's the same issue as with fruit juices and kombucha - the acidity weakens tooth enamel, so that brushing straight afterwards would brush the enamel off. I bought a load of really wide drinking straws online, and just lob them in the dishwasher afterwards. A friend got e onto this after talking about the damage caused to teeth by kombucha, lemon juice in water, fruit juices and the like; apparently they are worse than fizzy drinks. :roll:

 

You'd be better off swilling round your moth with plain tap water than using a mouth wash. Drinking straws really help though - it wort of bypasses your teefs

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Hi D M on the kefir site it said to strain it and discard the liquid for first two batches. I sent them a pic of the stuff left in sieve and they were very helpful. They got back to me right away and said they could see the grains I just needed to push as much through the sieve as I could. This I am now doing and have a more grainy,sticky mass. The liquid is much thicker,creamy if you use full cream milk. I sometimes can only get organic semi skimmed so it is a much thinner liquid. Mine is growing nicely. I keep it wrapped in a tea towel in the cupboard beside the fridge,as the fridge warms that cupboard slightly. On a positive note it is really helping my acid reflux,so much so I haven’t needed to take any nexium tablets recently. The kids are loving it too and we all have a smoothie before breakfast. I usually whizz it up with some frozen fruit.

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Mine arrived this morning with instructions but not measurements. I just emptied the packet contents into a glass jar with about 2 mugs of organic full cream milk and have covered it with a 'lacy cover' from Lakeland. It's in the sitting room where its quite warm. Not sure whether I should discard the first two batches though...seems like a terrible waste of milk!

 

Instructions are fairly basic but do say that 'you'll get to know your grains and how they behave and be able to gauge quantities for yourself'. Apparently 48 hours it the max so I'll deal with it on Thursday afternoon and see what has occurred.......still can't countenance throwing away though; is there a particular reason for this, I wonder :think:

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The measurements should have come with the grains - did with mine from the site in Eggers' link. It's 250ml of milk per teaspoon of grains. I didn't have any instructions about discarding any batches, just that the first couple of lots will take a bit longer as the grains hit their stride. I have increased min to accommodate around 300ml of milk as that quantity suits my needs.

 

I generally leave it, stirring every now and then, until it reaches the thickness I want. The grains usually rise closer to the top around then

 

There are loads of resources here

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Well, I wasn't expecting that! Peeked at the jar this morning, less than 24 hours, and its gone mad! White but lumpy at the top and very thick....can only assume that those poor little grains were very hungry after coming all the way from Scotland. Will strain off after the school run and see what I've got!

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Strain off the liquid and use the grains to start another brew. If you have more than a teaspoonful, then you can either increase the amount of milk used (you don't need to be massively accurate about this) or eat the spare grains. I give them to the dogs, who love them, and have a bit of kefir on their morning mince.

 

Re digestion... after the first couple of days, your guts will get used to it, but you may get a little *ahem* wind in the first few days.

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Are there any guidelines as to how much kefir per day? I can't seem to find any but have two on the go at any one time.....a day apart so that I have 250mls each day - usually with a handful of granola and a banana. Have worked out a routine for the jars (which I am sure they appreciate!) of starting them in the kitchen for 1st 24 hours then moving to the futility room for the 2nd 24 hours.

 

The grains don't seem to be multiplying very fast though....initially I had visions of some sort of triffid like growth with them taking over the kitchen :whistle:

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We bake our own bread so I will give that a try; thanks, DM!

 

Tried 'cooking' the kefir in the 'fridge but, in it's first 24 hours, it doesn't seem to have done anything! Have been starting in the kitchen for 24 hours then moving to the futility room (much cooler) for the 2nd 24 hours.

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